Anyone have a Wii?
 

My 6 year old daughter wants one for Christmas. Are they really 'fun for the whole family'? Can I get any decent military first person shooters for when the kid goes to bed?

You can get the shooters... I just don't know how decent they are on that controller... Of course you can use the gamecube controllers....


I really like Mario Cart and more of the arcade style games.... If she wants one get one... She will enjoy it and I bet you and your wife will love playing it with her...

We have a Wii. I originally bought it because my wife was getting such a kick from playing "Fit" at her parents'. Turns out she'd rather go to the gym instead.

My 4-year-old and I have played all the way through LEGO Star Wars and we've started over on it again. He loves it. I get a little frustrated sometimes because, well, he's 4 and doesn't always get the whole "co-op" idea. Plus there are a few annoying elements to the game design. But it's enough fun that we've logged quite a few hours on it. My wife even plays it with him sometimes. He also likes some of the (simpler) driving games like Cars and Micro Machines.

I've had a number of them come through the shop. Naturally, a complex electrical device like that must be tested before selling. They're pretty quick to put a smile on someone's face with the basic sports games. Fun for the whole family, to coin a phrase. The serious gamers use other systems though.
Jim

I'm thinking of getting one for my soon-to-be 3 and 5 year olds. I've heard the max resolution is like 420p, so it's great for cartoony kid games. But it won't be anything like the shooter games on the other consoles.

edit - that's assuming you have a big, HD TV.

We have one...my daughters ( 9 and 10) love it. Decent first shooter game for me as well...Call of duty.

My 5 year old loves his. It's easy enough that he can sometimes beat me in games like Mario Kart and Wii Sports. Nearly everyone that visits can easily pick up and play, even the grandparents. It really is fun for the entire family. Call of Duty is good as well, but not for little kids.

FPS on Wii (that i have tried) are awful.

but then i think any fps really should have a mouse and keyboard.

Lego Star Wars is SO popular with my 5yr old we have limited it to twice a week. My son has every single character but for yoda's ghost (and he's closing fast on that one). Frankly the Wii is worth buying just for this game and the bowling that comes with it. Lego Star Wars seriously deserves some sort of global recognition......it is that good. But then i am a Lego junkie AND grew up during the Star Wars era (the real one, not this quasi trekkie crap).

The nice thing about the Wii is that there are so many kid friendly games on it. Go ahead and get it, you will enjoy it. Adults that never play video games enjoy the Wii.

I ordered one yesterday from Amazon for the wife for Christmas. She said that's what she wanted. Never played one so we'll see.:D

Family/youth friendly games are Nintendo's niche. The sports games are entertaining. You can work up a sweat in tennis.

The Lego franchise is great fun. My kids play Star Wars and Indiana Jones and love it. The co-op is fun for them. Rockband is great for kids and adult parties.

Recently picked up Beatles Rockband and it's pretty much all my daughter plays now. Makes me feel good to hear my 6 and 9 year olds walking around the house singing I am the Walrus instead of whatever bim is the pop flavor of the month.

For FPS play get a 360. Xbox Live is far better than the PSN Network and the upcoming Natali camera system for it is going to blow the PS3 out of the water.

We have both a PS3 and a Wii.

Honestly the Wii is a blast, but it's not exactly what I'd consider a serious gaming console. Not enought HP and the controller is not accurate enough to be anything less than frustrating for first person shooters.

its for kids, best teen or adult system is Ps3 by a mile

The great thing about the wii is it gets the kid off their butt and at least moving around. Tennis is actually a bit of work.

I like the wii sports version of golf, although its very limited. I hear the Tiger Woods 2010 golf is amazing, and uses famous courses all over the world. Very tempting.

I have Tiger Woods 2009. Its a lot of fun, yet easy enough for my son to play. 2010 looks even better.

My 6 year old has had one for a year now. He LOVES it. He and the neighbors have solved all the Lego Star Wars, Batman and Indiana Jones games. He stays active with the WII fit and a month ago we got the Sports Resort with new motion controller. That game is a must. The motion control adds so much to the game. I was able to get a combo pack of the motion controller and game for like $45. There are a ton of games to play at the resort. He loves the sword play as it looks like a light saber. It also has has airplanes where you can dog fight. Frisbee golf, ping pong, biking, basketball, canoing and other fun games we can battle each other on. We both get a sweat going and have a ton of fun. It makes for a lot of fun and some good male bonding with my son. The only negative is when he dunks on me he does a little dance. Next thing you know he'll be talk'in trash to his old man. :D

Uhh... Sure.... Since you can't get Forza... Or Halo on PS3.....

Two words: Poo money. :D

I've been working in gaming for nearly 20 years.

If you walked around my office (a video game company) and did a poll it would look almost unanimously like this.

360
Wii
PS3

I hear the surprise feature where you duck into your car avoiding an angry woman swinging a 1 iron is great.

In all sincerity, it's a fun family device - tennis, golf, bowling, baseball - simple and fun to do together. Not a gaming console, but a great way for people of all ages and abilities to have fun. No experience required, you can grab the controller and be having fun in minutes.

We often put a chair between my son and the (very expensive) tv when he plays.

He gets so into whatever game he's playing the tv is in danger!